1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electronic gaming. More specifically, the present invention relates to tiled objects in digital gaming environments.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many game environments do not include visibly destructible objects such as buildings and other structures. In a number of game environments, an object such as a vehicle or building structure will disappear behind an explosion and smoke leaving only a vacant area when the smoke subsides. The complete disappearance of the object, as if the object never existed, detracts from the reality of a game as a field of debris or some sort of skeletal structure of the former object would expectedly remain.
Those game environments that do include destructible objects include only a limited set thereof. For example, only particular buildings or particular objects may be destroyed; all other objects appear as part of a background or a matte painting. This limited set of destructible objects is likewise unrealistic as there is no discernable reason why one building may be destroyed by a particular weapon but another remains standing despite the use of an identical weapon.
Detracting further from the reality of the game environment is the fact that this limited set of destructible objects may only be destroyed in a scripted manner. Destruction of the objects may not naturally occur or may be identical to the destruction of similar objects in spite of a differing cause of the destruction. For example, a building might collapse in a single pre-scripted manner despite the use of a particular weapon, angle, or intensity of an attack. Another building might be destroyed in the exact same collapse sequence regardless of differences in the likes of weapon, angle, or intensity of attack.
Notwithstanding this general lack of realism in the art, several methods are presently employed for defining various objects in game environments. In one common method, objects are modeled as single pieces. With the exception of sparsely pre-placed objects such as doors that may slide or swing open, this method makes the game environments appear unrealistically static. Another drawback of this particular method is that every object having a different appearance must be remodeled, which requires additional time for modeling and memory for storage of that model.
Utilizing this methodology, a damaged object is entirely replaced by one of several damaged versions of that object. Each of the several damaged versions of the object may represent various positions and extents of damage. Memory usage can be high using this method in that the several damaged versions must be stored regardless of invocation. Damage representation may also be inaccurate due to a finite number of the damaged versions that may be feasibly stored. Using such prior art models, a damaging impact would not necessarily impinge at a location on the object where damage is modeled on one of the damaged versions.
Existing methods for defining objects in game environments include several other drawbacks that hamper the user experience. One example is a lack of damage accumulation. Repeatedly impacting the same location on a wall may not result in further damage to that location. Another drawback is the lack of an ability to create the likes of an enterable hole at an arbitrary location on an object such as a wall. Additionally, an appearance of solidity may not be maintained such that damaged portions of the object may appear paper-thin. Furthermore, severely damaged structures may not collapse realistically under their own weight. There is, therefore, a need in the art for improved methods of tiling objects in digital gaming environments.